


Life in the Orphanage

by LegacyWorks



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Algira still loves cats, Brothers!Hak and Jae-Ha, Child Abandonment, Children!Dragons, Gen, Hak and Jae-Ha grew up on the streets around drugs, He's very silent, Kija is bored of his life, Orphanage, SO MUCH FLUFF, Shin-Ah learned fighting from Ao, Shin-Ah still had Ao, Some darker topics, They all can fight, Zeno is found as a baby, everything's cute, not graphic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-10-21 03:58:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10677216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegacyWorks/pseuds/LegacyWorks
Summary: Yona couldn't sit back and do nothing while homeless children were running around on the streets. With Yun's help, Yona created a place for all of the abandoned kids. Big brother Zeno helps Yona and Yun take care of the little brats, especially the ones with harder pasts. There's the brothers, Hak and Jae-Ha, the one who doesn't speak, Shin-Ah, and the pampered boy Kija. Some started worse off than others, but Yona and the other adults helped them through.





	1. The First

“Yona, Yona!” Yun shouted as he ran down the streets. Coming to a newly constructed building he paused, banging on the door with all his force. “Yona!” He continued yelling. Hearing a cry sound from just under his ears he quieted down, rocking the object occupying his arms and returning his right hand, the one that was banging on the door, to it’s original place underneath the object. The wailing quieted as he made cooing noises to calm down the small being.

  
Just as the sound fully stopped the door in front of him flung open, showing a flustered Yona with a wild look in her eyes. “Yun, what’s wrong? Are you being chased again?” Seeing Yun’s smiling face she calmed down, finally noticing the object he was carrying.

  
“Yona, really. That only happened once. I should have known not to show my beautiful face when there’s drunks around.”

  
“That doesn’t mean it won’t happen again. You had to stay there for an entire hour before they gave up. That was pretty scary, you know!” She scolded while removing the bundle from Yun’s arms. “Where’d you find him?”

  
The bundle carried a small, yellow haired baby in a ragged blanket. His smiling, drooling face tempted Yona to poke at it, but she refrained for the time being. His giggles were infectious and soon had Yona giggling with him, unable to resist his warm charm. Yun was able to hold himself back from joining in. Before allowing himself to indulge with this baby he had to tell Yona how he found the child.

  
“He was left next to a shrine up in the woods. I had just been going to visit briefly to see if Ik-Soo was there when I found the kid crawling around next to a statue. These rags were near-by, so I assumed they were his and he crawled out of them. No one was close by, and the kid was dirty and looked to have been there for a day or two, so I decided to pick him up. It’s fine, right? You’re going to open the orphanage soon, right?” Yun started to question if this was a good idea. It would be Yona’s first time taking care of a child of this age, and it would be for a long period of time instead of the one day tops she would do while babysitting her neighbors’ kids. She wouldn’t know how to take care of such a young kid, and Yun hadn’t done any sort of babysitting before, he was always too focused on his studies.

  
Ik-Soo was just useless, so there wasn’t going to be any help there, either. That man had adopted Yun at the age of eight and at that point he already figured out how to do basic things like getting dressed, cleaning, and cooking simple meals. Therefore all of the house care fell on Yun (after he saw how Ik-Soo destroyed more than he cleaned) as well as the cooking (Ik-Soo was worse at that than he was cleaning). Asking Ik-Soo how to take care of a baby who couldn’t be even one year old was the worst idea possible. A three year old might take better care of the kid than Ik-Soo.

  
Yun is thankful he’s such a genius. If he wasn’t he wouldn’t be able to make it out of childhood with such a useless father.

  
“Yeah, it’ll be opening next week, and most of the rooms are finished. It should be fine to have this little one move in early. There’s no way I could allow such a cute little kid to live someplace else for just a week. Come on, help me give him a bath. The poor kid’s filthy.”

  
“Do you want me to grab some of the clothes from the back? There’s a couple baby things, so at least one should fit.” Yun was already heading off in that direction, so asking was fairly useless. Yona called out her ‘okay’ on the matter and continued up to the second floor where the baths were.

  
Not wanting to risk something bad happening, Yona grabbed a washcloth and soaked it with water to wipe down the kid’s body. He squealed with happiness and kept grabbing at the cloth, so Yona went to get another one. With her eyes off of the kid for over three seconds the active child had already climbed off of the short stool he was sitting on and crawled across the floor, dragging his soapy body over the clear tiles. Yona laughed when she saw this and hurried to scoop up the child before he made a bigger mess.

  
Yun arrived in the room when Yona started working on the kid’s dirtied yellow hair. She had to pick out all of the twigs and leaves before getting to work, but it wasn’t too much of a hassle seeing how short the boy’s hair was. Yun arrived with an excited look on his face before slipping on the soapy floor.

  
“Ooooow,” He got up, rubbing his back with a grimace taking over his expression. “Yonaaa, why didn’t you tell me it was wet?” He asked with an accusatory look, but he couldn’t keep the adoration out of his eyes when the little boy giggled. This kid really was the sweetest.

  
“Yun, were you going to say anything?”

  
“Oh, yeah! I found out what this kid’s name its! It was stitched onto one of the rags, something like Zero. Here.” He handed over the cloth and took Yona’s place washing the kid’s messy hair.  
“I think it’s Zeno. Hi, Zeno!” She wiggled her finger in front of his face and he grabbed at it, pulling the digit into his mouth. She made cooing noises at Zeno for a while longer before Yun finished up with his hair. Then they dried him off and got him dressed.

  
“Yun, did you ever find Ik-Soo?” Zeno had gone off to sleep moments ago after drinking some of the milk Yona managed to get. As excited as that boy was, he took no time falling asleep.  
Yun’s face fell blank, which Yona read as he completely forgot about his adoptive father. He quickly rushed out of the room and threw on his shoes. He was gone before Yona could blink.

  
“I hope he's okay…” Yona murmured to herself. The likelihood of Ik-Soo doing something such as falling off a cliff was fairly high. It had happened before, unsurprisingly, and Yun had gone into a panic mode. Ik-Soo managed to come out with only a couple of bruises and a fracture in his left leg. The worst of the injuries he sustained due to that incident was Yun hitting him on the head and repeatedly on the chest after he was all healed up.

  
Yun returned not long after with a dirty Ik-Soo in tow. The man only sported a few more scratches on his cheek and hands than before, but nothing too terrible. It was better than his normal of bruises and skinned knees. After their greetings Ik-Soo asked to see Zeno. The little baby was asleep in one of the cribs they had received a few days ago. Yun and Yona made sure everything about it was nice and usable while making sure Ik-Soo stayed away from anything near the renovation equipment. Even though the man wanted to help in any way he possibly could, there was no way he’d be helpful when it came to construction. Or cooking. Or even living, but that’s not the point.

  
Seeing the little sleeping child he smiled. Slow movements led him to the crib and he placed his hand gently on the yellow hair residing atop his head.

  
“May the gods bless this little one. He has a great strength within him.” Ik-Soo murmured a prayer and lay a kiss on the boy’s forehead. Yun resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. His adopted father tended to say that about a lot of people. First Yun, then Yona, now Zeno. The man says he can hear the gods and does what they tell him, but Yun thinks it’s a load of bull. Still, he can respect the man for his generosity to everyone. To love all humans no matter what they’ve done is a power in and of itself.

  
Ik-Soo walked out of the room just as quietly as he entered, closing the door without a sound. With a shit-eating grin on his face he clasped Yona on the shoulders.

  
“You’ll learn a lot from this child. I do wish you luck with him. Do listen to him, he knows what he’s talking about.” Yona smiled, the only way anyone knew how to deal with Ik-Soo’s random times of insight was to go along with it. Neither her or Yun paid any attention anymore.

  
“Come on, Yun. We better go home already. Yona had better get as much sleep as she can for now. Who knows how this child will act during the night.” Yun was then dragged out of the orphanage by the priest, calling out a quick good night to Yona before berating Ik-Soo for being so forceful and random.

  
Zeno slept quietly throughout the night, not once waking Yona.

.

“C’mere, kitty kitty kitty. Yeah, this way. I have a little treat for you, little kitty. Just come over here.” Yun was attempting to draw the cat out of it’s hiding place under the couch. So far there wasn’t any progress and Zeno, for reasons unknown, was refusing to help. A week or so ago, three year old Zeno decided to pick up a cat while he was playing outside. More like the cat followed him to the building and Zeno begged to keep her. She was a pure white kitty who looked around the age of two. The girl was sweet, always climbing on top of people to draw their attention. If Yona was laying on the floor (which happened a lot. Floors are just so comfy) the girl would nudge Yona’s arm before placing her head up on Yona’s stomach. After a little bit of attention the girl would climb up to Yona’s stomach and rub her head against Yona’s. Yun didn’t let her get so affectionate with him, but he would let her onto his lap and pet her soft fur.

  
However, as affectionate as the girl could be, she would not go near Yun with that torture device in his hands. Zeno sat with his legs crossed, watching Yun attempt to draw the cat out, a blank look on his face which was far different from the cheerful grin he normally wore.  
“C’mon, I’m just gonna clip your nails a little. Don’t worry, you won’t get hurt. It’s just to protect the furniture. Ugh, Zeno, can you help me? She likes you more.” Zeno shook his head and continued to watch silently. Yun sighed. “Why not? She’ll be alright, you don’t have to worry about that.”

  
“There’s no reason.” Zeno said before pouting. Yun, trying to fight off a squeal at Zeno’s cuteness, turned his head away to avoid looking at Zeno long enough to speak.

  
“What do you mean there’s no reason? She might destroy everything in the orphanage. That would be a lot of money to get replaced.”

  
“But she doesn’t. No use claws inside. She needs them outside.” Zeno was extremely literate for his age, at least when he was truly trying to communicate something. It was scary sometimes when he spoke in full sentences without any mistakes. Not that it happened that often. It wasn’t part of Zeno’s personality to be serious.

  
“But I need to cut her claws, just in case. You’re still young. What if she accidentally cuts you?”  
“She won’t. Kitty is careful. There’s no need to cut them.” Zeno’s expressions did a 180 as he jumped up and ran over to the couch. “C’mon, kitty! Let’s go!” The cat maneuvered her way out from under the couch and ran outside with Zeno leaving Yun dumbfounded.

  
“I just lost an argument to a three year old… Yona’s gonna make so much fun of me.” He sighed and got to work preparing the kitchen to cook and thinking about what to tell Yona about the kitty’s claws. She had asked him to make sure the girl wouldn’t cause any problems around the orphanage with potential parents coming to visit with the children.

  
The orphanage had gained a few more members recently, ranging from the ages three to twelve, Zeno still thought to be the youngest. Yet, even with his young age, Zeno still managed to be the life of the party among all ages. When he felt like it, that is. There would be times he’d stay away from the group and play in the woods. Ik-Soo would take him up to the shrine where he had been found whenever Zeno asked, and Zeno picked up Ik-Soo’s clumsiness.

Thankfully it was nowhere near as bad as Ik-Soo was, and Zeno was able to heal extraordinarily fast and was a tad more athletic than Ik-Soo was. It was mainly his distracted mind that would cause the mishaps.

  
Zeno had an extreme love of climbing up trees before jumping down, seeing how many tricks he could do while on the branches be it flips or hanging upside-down. The first hundred times Yona and Yun tried to stop him from doing such dangerous things when he started, age two, but the boy was agile and talented. Plus he would always pull the puppy dog eyes when they tried to get him to stop.

  
No one can resist. No one.

.

  
“Do you think Zeno has any close friends?” Yona asked Yun out of the blue one day. They had just been cleaning up the rooms after one group of messy children stormed through and turned it into a disaster area.

  
Her question caused Yun to pause in his work, thinking.

  
“No.” He answered plainly after a moment’s deliberation.

  
“Why do you think that is? I mean, he’s been here for forever, almost his entire life. Everyone loves him and is friendly, but he doesn’t seem close to any of the other kids.”

  
“Maybe he knows they’ll all be separated one day. I’ve heard that children are still affected by what happens to them as babies, even if they don’t remember any of it. He might know that his parents left him and now doesn’t want to take the chance of anyone else doing that.”

  
“I think it might go deeper than that. The other kids don’t seem to have that issue, and it looks like he just doesn’t care about any of them wanting to be his friend. It’s not like he stays away on purpose, but he just drifts.”

  
“He stays with the cat.” Yun said with a pout.

  
“Oh, stop that. You still get attention from him, even if he’s taking care of Hakuryuu. You’re a big boy, you don’t need to be jealous of a cat.” Yona chided.

  
“You’re upset too. Zeno’s the first kid you started taking care of. You’re always sad when someone comes to look at him for adoption.”

  
“Of course I am. But I still want him to be adopted, even if it means I won’t get to be near him anymore. You know that.” They both placed their cleaning supplies on the table and sat down. As cute as Zeno was, he could be a problem child. Just not in the normal ways one would think of. The boy avoided getting adopted. He would act different around different potential parents. If a couple was looking for a wild, energetic child Zeno would show his maturity. If a couple was looking for a mature child he would act extra childish around them, making sure to cover their clothing with mud. One by one he scared them away, and all Yona and Yun could do was watch.

  
It wasn’t like they could make him behave in front of people who were there to take him away. His rejection made sense in a way. He didn’t want anything to do with people he didn’t know, simple as that. While the other children were willing to get to know these couples, Zeno liked his current life. Even at the young age of three Zeno knew where he wanted to be, at this orphanage. With these people to take care of him. They were his family. Yona and Yun knew that, but they didn’t want to encourage him. Ik-Soo knew that and he continued to pressure them into letting Zeno do as he liked, saying he would change at some point and then they wouldn’t be happy about it, or they would regret not just enjoying the time they have with him.  
They just wanted what was best for Zeno, what was best for all of the children. Ik-Soo said they were what Zeno needed.

  
It’s hard to trust a man who says he can hear the words of the gods.


	2. Brothers will Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The brothers aren't looking for a new home, but Gi-Gan is a nice old lady and helps them out anyway.

"Those assholes left again, damn it. Jae-Ha, let's go. We need to find some food." This foul mouthed brat rummaged around the house searching for anything that could buy them food for the day. He had a brother to care for and, even with Jae-Ha's charm when it came to older people who sometimes had money they could extort, there was no guarantee they would meet someone with the cash to pay for their meal. Living in such a filthy part of a city didn't inspire many wealthy folk to come roaming around, and Hak wasn't willing to take money from people who needed it just as much as him and his brother did.

They were too young for this, damn it.

"Hak, they probably went out to buy more stuff. There won't be any cash in here. Let's just go out and see what we can find." Jae-Ha was leaning against the door frame casually, his calm eyes the complete opposite of Hak's enraged ones.

"Urgh, fine. Let's go. I swear, if those assholes come back without any money left I'm gonna knock them out." He growled, slamming the door shut once Jae-Ha was clear.

The two stuck of the shadows of the streets, bypassing drunks and prostitutes that might pick a fight with them. Or anyone Hak would pick a fight with himself. Even at the age of six, Hak and Jae-Ha were confident fighters. Sure, they wouldn't be able to take down a trained adult, but people that only had muscle and no technique were easy prey. Hak could use anything stick-like as a weapon and Jae-Ha had some strong legs in which he took great pride.

"Hey, there's that one guy. We could just grab off of him." Jae-Ha was pointing towards a guy selling old bread. He had chased them out of his store even when they had money to pay for his shit bread, but he saw them as nothing more than thieving children.

Why must food be so hard to get?

Hak blamed it on their druggy parent figures. If they didn't spend all the money on drugs, maybe him and Jae-Ha wouldn't live such shitty lives.

The two brothers snuck their way over to the shop, making sure to fly under the radar. It was a useful talent to have when living in such a place. People didn't notice the two follow a group of teens into the store and sneak behind the counter. They didn't notice Hak grab a loaf of olive bread or Jae-Ha breakfast bread before they snuck back out with the teens. The two scampered to the forest and quickly climbed a tree, holding the bread in their mouths.

You can't just carry food around when you live here. People had no qualms about beating children of a younger age if it meant getting their hands on some grub. Hak ripped his loaf and handed half over to Jae-Ha before biting into it himself. The dry bread scratched at his dry throat, but it was edible. The olives gave at least a little taste to the otherwise bland pastry and their nutrition was something Hak couldn't give up no matter how minimal.

Jae-Ha let out a heavy sigh. "I should have just used my cuteness to get us something better." Hak smacked him upside the head before continuing to eat. Getting the message Jae-Ha closed his mouth and chewed his food.

"We'll keep yours for tomorrow. Now, let's get back. The assholes should be at the house soon. I need to see if they kept any money with them or not." Jae-Ha did a flip out of the tree before landing delicately on his feet while Hak all but fell out, landing on his feet with a thud. No one was paying attention to them, so Hak allowed them to move when he was sure it was safe.

Kidnappings weren't abnormal in this area. Kids and teens went missing all the time, sometimes to be sold, sometimes to be ransomed. Depended on who captured them. Either way the two would be screwed. Parents who couldn't pay for food couldn't pay a ransom (if they even cared that their boys were missing) and the two wouldn't be able to fight off the trained goons hired for such a job, just in case the targets knew how to fight.

"You're pretty good at stealing huh, brats. Do it often?" Hak stopped Jae-Ha from moving any farther with the appearance of an older lady. Her grayed hair was tied up in a bun and her purple clothes were fairly clean.

Hak could tell a fighter when he saw one. This was not a person he wanted to piss off, and running would be useless. The old bat's physical capabilities were concealed by her loose clothing until getting a closer glance.

Hak berated himself for being so careless. Just because someone was old it didn't mean they couldn't fight. Couldn't grab him and his brother off the streets and sell them into a worse life. And he just let this potential criminal get near his useless brother who doesn't even know to run away from people offering him food or a lady promising to give him a good time. They might be the same age, but Hak spent his life protecting the boy from everything. It was lucky Hak found the boy before anyone else did.

They might be the same age and all, but Hak picking Jae-Ha up saved the green haired boy from a lot of future pains, which instead fell upon Hak.

"Oh, calm down brats. I was just saying good job. Where are your parents, anywho? Someone must'a picked you two up. Lemme guess, drunks? Jobless?" The bat was waiting for an answer Hak wasn't willing to give a stranger. Jae-Ha, however, had no such precautions.

"Drugs. We're going home now." He blinked his blue eyes before tugging on Hak's arm and pulling them past the old woman.

"Drugs, huh? If anything happens to your folks just come back here. I might be able to set you up with a better place." The woman waved her pipe in farewell as the two ran off.

"Stupid bat. Who would trust you?" Hak muttered to himself, too low for Jae-Ha to catch. If the green-haired boy had, it would have changed the future in store for them.

"Just take them. It should be enough, right?" Hushed whispers filled the house. The boys' parent figures were in the main room, talking to what must have been their dealer. Hak was in their room, covering Jae-Ha's ears. Neither of them thought their parents were great by any standards, but to sell them for drugs? That was a new low, and definitely not something Jae-Ha needed to hear.

It was too late, though, and Hak's hands weren't able to block out all of the sound.

Between the time it took for the dealer to reach the door into the only bedroom within the house from the entrance, Hak had created a plan. He would take out the man and drag Jae-Ha with him. They'd survive off the city until someone picked them up or Hak was able to move up in the world somehow. Becoming a professional hitman didn't seem too bad if it meant getting enough money to hold them over. If they survived long enough for him to grow up, that is.

His planning was cut short by the entrance of the dealer. A large man slid the door open, his grubby, fat fingers being the first thing to reach Hak's vision. The next thing he saw was a foot connecting with the fatty's face. Jae-Ha had launched the first attack, already pushing the old guy out the door and landing on the other side.

"C'mon, Hak! We gotta get away!" Jae-Ha ran out of the house. Hak followed soon after giving a swift hit to their parents. They deserved it.

Jae-Ha lead the way through the streets with Hak doing all he could to keep up. He wanted to be in the lead and make sure they didn't run into any trouble, but Jae-Ha was the fast one. Hak resigned himself to just following until Jae-Ha ran out of steam or realized he didn't know where he wanted to go.

That didn't happen. Jae-Ha ran a straight path to a familiar section of the road. Hak wasn't able to match the place with anything important until one purple clad old bat walked into view.

"Well, hello you two. Something happened, right? I'll bet it was the blue eyed one that brought you two here. Mr. Scowl wouldn't do it himself." The lady turned around and headed into a building. Jae-Ha hesitated, unsure what the lady was wanting them to do before she turned her head sideways and motioned for them to follow. When he ran after the lady, Hak was forced to follow. He wouldn't abandon his little brother, even if it meant following a shady ass lady into a suspicious building that he knew nothing about.

Jae-Ha better thank him later. The brat's almost more trouble than he's worth.

The lady led them into what seemed to be a bedroom, and one much cleaner and better looking that the one they lived in and were used to. There was also a lot less stuff everywhere, using only the bare minimum. A futon, a table, blankets. All a dull brown color on the wooden floor. They all seemed to be in working condition, no large holes in the fabrics or chunks taken out of the wood. It was an improvement.

"Sleep. I'll get you two in the morning, then we're heading out. I know a place you can stay, and you just might like living there. The lady who runs the place is kind and there's other children to play and mess around with." The old woman left the room, not locking the door and without giving them food. Both of these actions left Hak just a tad bit grateful. They would be able to leave, and he wouldn't have to worry about either him or Jae-Ha getting poisoned or drugged.

There was still the possibility of the furniture being lined with something or other, or the air getting gassed, but both of those had the chance of getting someone besides it's targets. Less likely. If people came in during the night they would fight back and hope to win.

Jae-Ha fell asleep. Hak did not.

It was a long night, but not much worse than he was used to. Having two druggies as parents who just happened to be in constant debt let to violent outbreaks when they were high or people breaking into their house to kill as compensation.

Hak was the one to deal with the problems, not Jae-Ha. Hak made sure his brother was able to sleep properly. If that meant constantly keeping one eye open, so be it.

This house had no sounds echoing through the thin walls. It made it easy to know if some grunt was coming to take them out. Hak could pick up on any noise, even if they were covered up by something else. It just made it harder.

Here there was nothing. So only if someone was extremely skilled and didn't make a single sound while moving would Hak be fooled. The only person he'd met with the possibility of doing that was the old woman, so it didn't bode well.

When light started to shine against the door and seep through the cracks, Hak heard the sound of soft footsteps. He could wake Jae-Ha up just in case they would be attacked, but if that were the case their attacker would be coming when there was a larger possibility of one of them being awake. Or the attacker knew Hak would act like this and purposefully waited until he had stayed up most of the night before attacking.

Jae-Ha had a decent amount of sleep. Over six hours. He'd be fine.

Hak silently shifted over to where Jae-Ha lay sleeping and shook him awake. It took a bit since Jae-Ha wasn't a light sleeper - thanks to Hak's hard work on making sure he could sleep through the night - but in less than a minute he was awake and aware.

As the door slid open, Hak waited in a coiled stance, ready to jump out at a moment's notice if needed and take down the person at the door. Jae-Ha got the idea of what Hak was going for, but the look on his face showed just how ridiculous he thought Hak was being. The poised boy didn't bother making a face back. If there really was danger lurking outside of the sliding door they would be in more trouble if he's distracted for even a second.

Distractions meant death. Even a six year old like himself knew that, and he didn't even have to get it beaten into him like most did. Let others learn the lessons so you can learn from them. It's a useful strategy to survival, most people just don't follow it. They're the ones who end up dead.

It was the old woman who walked through.

"Good," She said, an appraising look in her eye. "Your body positioning is good for a brat. Could be better, though. What about the cute one? He know how to fight too?" Hak stopped Jae-Ha from falling into position. Sure, it would be nice if he helped out, but there'd be a more likely chance of him getting in the way. Jae-Ha knew how to fight, he just rarely did. Only when he had to, otherwise Hak did it.

"So that's a yes. Well, good for you, but ya won't be needing that skill set anymore. I told ya there was a person who could take you in, give you a good home. We're going to her today. Let's go, brats. You'll like her. Heck, I like her."

The old bat walked away. Jae-Ha waited to see what I would do for once, thank god he wasn't planning to run off and force me to chance behind him.

"Well? Do you trust her enough, yet? Or are we still just going to leave?" Jae-Ha's eyes were wide open, ready to accept whichever answer left Hak's mouth, filled with trust in his brother to chose the correct path.

With all that weight, Hak's decision was made. He just hoped it was the right one.

"Let's follow her."

"Here're the brats, Yona." The old bat brought them to a different city miles and miles away from the shit hole they called home. A clean building stood in front of the two brothers and that woman.

"Thank you, Gi-Gan. I'm sorry I wasn't able to come pick them up, making you drive all the way over here…"

"Yeah, yeah. You already have a ton of brats to look after, half of 'em comin from me. With your hands that full I'd be surprised if you could make the trip." The lady smiled something brighter than Hak or Jae-Ha had seen before. It was full of innocence and truth, nothing like the people living within their city.

This time Hak wasn't the only brother who went on guard this time. People like this weren't going to survive. They always drew in violent people and got injured, sometimes mortally. Jae-Ha used to try protecting them, dragging Hak into it like he always did, but the two of them were no match for all the people going after such an innocence.

"Now, you two, calm down. Yona is stronger than she seems, and I've got no doubt she'd be able to wipe the floor with you two if she wanted. Of course, that's saved for the people going after her kids. Now that you two are her kids, well, she'll protect you."

Gi-Gan shifted her attention from the boys onto Yona. "Take care of them, ya hear? They're good brats, even the scowling one. Protects his brother no matter what. The green-haired one is sweet to everyone, but he seems to be a trouble maker. Both'll be heart breakers when they grow up, but till then you two are just brats." Gi-Gan made her exit by ruffling the brothers' hair, both of them trying to duck under her hands to no avail.

Moments after Gi-Gan's departure, Yona moved out of the doorway to allow the two boys through. Hak went first, making sure to position himself between Yona and Jae-Ha, as well as anyone else who decided to jump out at them.

Someone did. Hak countered and pushed his attacker to the floor.

He shifted back into a fighting stance, feet shoulder width apart, center of gravity low, arm up to block with one poised to strike. For all he knew this was a full grown man - though it didn't seem that way when Hak threw him - that was armed and extremely fit. If the man had a knife and was capable of using it, Hak would have to get Jae-Ha to run. No way Hak would be able to get out of that without getting injured. Jae-Ha didn't need to see that.

Of course, when Hak saw the bright yellow hair of his attacker and the chubby cheeks of a child, his defences fell and a scowl took over his formerly cautious expression.

The kid got up with a laugh, brushing his hands over his orange clothing to wipe off invisible dirt. Grinning, he held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Zeno! I was the first kid here, it's been seven years! So you should listen to me, since you're new. What's your name?"

Hak stayed silent for a moment before taking Zeno's hand cautiously. "Hak." Taking the go-ahead, Jae-Ha walked closer and wrapped his arm around Hak's shoulders.

"Hi, Zeno! I'm Jae-Ha, this guy's younger brother. We're six! But that doesn't mean anything. Hak and I are able to take down guys three times our size without getting hurt much. Maybe you should be listening to us? We might beat you up." Jae-Ha let loose a cocky grin. Hak noticed Yona was smiling fondly, which made no sense given the current situation. One kid who knows how to fight is threatening to beat up a weakling kid.

That old bat said this lady was a good person. Screw that.

"M-mh!" Zeno said in disagreement. "You can't beat me! I'm really, really durable! That's what Yun said. It means I don't get hurt easy! Once I fell out of a tree that was reeeeaaally high up, and nothing happened! Yona was freaking out, though. She thought I was dead." Zeno leaned real close to Jae-Ha's ear before whispering "I still climb trees, but Yona doesn't know. I'm reeeaaally careful so she doesn't worry anymore."

Hak found out Zeno's whispering was extremely loud, and it would be difficult for Yona not to hear what he said.

He caught the end of an eye roll paired with a fond smile. What a strange person. The old bat said this lady could fight, and that means she's actually pretty good if the bat acknowledged her.

"Yona!" A voice rang out. A female-looking boy ran into the room looking hazard. "Yona, I need some help. Sena's freaking out about not having his bottle and I can't find it!"

"Oh, no! Excuse me, Hak, Jae-Ha, Zeno! I need to go help Yun!" Zeno waved good-bye to the scurrying adults and then turned to the brothers.

"Well, I should show you the rooms. If you want, you could stay in my room!" Zeno grabbed Jae-Ha by the wrist and ran up the stairs Hak hadn't even noticed. They went up one flight before Zeno led them down a hallway.

"Yona made the orphanage really big since she wanted to give everyone a nice space to live. We have three floors that are mostly for people to sleep in, and a couple more sleeping areas on the other two floors. Those also have a play-room for the younger babies and toddlers, then there's the kitchen and dining hall. We have a huge yard to play in, so we don't get cramped up in here. Yona also gives some of the older kids allowance so they can go out with friends. It's not much, but that's still better than what most orphans have."

Zeno kept talking until they reached the room. Opening the doors, the three set their eyes on the large room. Two bunkbeds made the room seem smaller and the large table at the wall did nothing to help that. The wooden floor had a small rug next to what must be Zeno's bed (it was the only messy one).

"I'm the only one in this room, so you guys can have whichever bed you want. Yona will probably get you guys some stuff to hang on the walls and everything, so the room won't look so empty once you fully move in." The brothers moved silently over to the completely empty bunk bed. Jae-Ha was checking out the covers and softness of the bed while Hak was trying to figure out how they managed to get to such a nice place with people who seemed kind.

Not that he trusted them. Not at all. Providing kindness and comfort didn't mean these were good people. Just that they would have a greater chance of finding an opportunity to turn on him and Jae-Ha.

Hak jumped when Zeno's hand rested on his shoulder.

"Don't be so tense! Nothing's going to happen, you know." The happy-go-lucky boy was able to get a read on him. Just as he expected, these people were not as they seemed. No matter how his voice made people want to trust the older kid, Hak would not fall under his deception.

"Why are you guys sleeping in the same bed? Isn't it small?" Zeno asked as the three were getting ready for sleep. Jae-Ha had gotten in first having finished brushing his teeth (after Zeno showed them how to do everything. Their old parents normally just got toothpaste, no brush. It was a weird motion) with Hak and Zeno following soon after. Zeno was the one to turn off the lights and looked at the two as Hak climbed in next to Zeno.

"What? It's normal, and we used to sleep in a bed smaller than this one. Is there a problem?" Jae-Ha questioned, snuggling into Hak closer to get warm. Jae-Ha had a naturally low body temperature when he was sleeping, but Hak was always warm. His own personal heater.

"Nope! I just haven't seen anyone else doing that, which is surprising since I've been here for so long. There's a lot of siblings who complain about having to share a bed with each other. You two must be close." Jae-Ha detected a hint of sadness in Zeno's voice. He wanted to help the blond-headed boy like the boy helped him and Hak, but he was still an unknown. Hak already protected him from a lot of stuff and sure, maybe Jae-Ha was willing to go to a complete stranger for help to get away from their shit parents, but that didn't mean he'd be willing to get close to another living human that wasn't Hak any time soon.

Jae-Ha was far less oblivious to human nature than Hak liked to think. Humans were shitty creatures always using other people for their own personal gain, just like their parents tried to do. Those two addicts were the perfect example of human nature, but that didn't mean that everyone was automatically that terrible. Everyone had their own level of sucky, Gi-Gan, Yona and Zeno included. Even Hak and himself.

But there was hope for some. Like the old lady who helped them, or that one beggar who gave him and Hak food when they hadn't eaten in a whole week. It was those people who made the world suck just a little bit less.

It would be nice to be able to trust someone that wasn't Hak for once.


	3. Silent Strength

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new person joins, this one weirder than the last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one will be a bit confusing, but bare with me. I have a clarifying chapter right after it. Basically, all of this in what the kid is thinking. Sometimes he might actually speak, but those times are rare.

He's cute. So cute. Little Ao.

But I'm so cold. It's freezing.

Why's water falling out of the sky?

I need shelter. Shelter. A bridge? Would that work?

Stones are cold. Metal is cold.

Cold. Ice. Shivering.

Why can't it be warm?

It's wet. Really wet.

Oh, hello, Ao. You're warm, but you're also wet.

Could you tell me why it's wet?

There isn't rain anymore. Oh, a bridge.

Will the bridge be warm, Ao? Could it keep me warm?

What's that you have? It's soft. Sort of. It's sort of soft. Thank you, Ao. I'll wear it. Would you like it?

Oh, a spider. Hello, Mister Spider.

No, Ao, don't chase him away! Oh well, he wasn't warm anyway. Come on, Ao. Come join me in this cloth. It's warm. But I'm still wet. Oh well.

You're still wet, Ao. Dry off. Come into this heat.

There you go. Isn't this better?

My stomach hurts. Hunger? Yeah, that's it. Do you have any food, Ao? I would like it if you did, but you probably don't. I can't eat your food anyway. It's too hard.

There's a river. It's really high. Oh, look, more rain. I think there's people walking on the stones.

Huh? It's a street. When did a street get there, Ao? I don't remember anymore.

My stomach still hurts. I think it's eating itself. I don't like that.

It stopped growling a while ago. Is that okay, Ao? I don't know. Maybe it stopped because it knew I couldn't feed it? I don't even have enough food for me, I couldn't feed that animal in my stomach.

Ao, someone's coming.

She. It's a she coming.

Ah, what's she doing? Ao, I don't know why she's coming over here. It's not a place for humans. We're fine, but what would a human do?

Oh, she has red hair. Is she burning? I guess she isn't a human, then. A human wouldn't be able to have their head on fire and still walk.

And it's raining. There wouldn't be a fire in the rain.

What are you doing, Ao? I thought you were going to keep me warm. Do you want to get warm with her instead? I understand. I'm too cold to keep you warm. Go ahead, get warm. I'll see you later.

Ao? Are you coming back? Are you leading the not human to me?

Ah, she has a warm smile. Can a smile be warm? I guess a fire-lady's smile can be. That's nice.

Huh? What's she doing with her arms? Her skin is warm, though. That's nice. Ao, the fire-lady is keeping me warm. Is she keeping you warm?

I'm going to go to sleep, Ao. It's warm now. Good night, Ao. I'll see you when I wake up.

My eyes. Everything's blurry… someone's talking.

Why's it so warm here? I'm not used to this. It's always cold now. Even in the sun.

There's someone on my skin. It feels weird, but in a nice way.

Ao! Where are you, Ao? I'm sorry I didn't notice you were gone when I first woke! Don't be mad at me. I don't want you to go away.

Something's touching me. It's like my hand, but not. My hand doesn't feel like this does. Ao doesn't feel like this either.

Oh, I can see. I'm in a weird place. Ao, please come find me. I don't know where I am, and I don't know these strange people.

Ah, Ao, there you are. With the female. Oh, I remember. The fire-lady. That's nice, Ao. Are you warm there? I'm warm over here. Will you come be with me? We can be warm together, Ao. I miss having you here. I'm so used to you being on my shoulder.

Wait, Ao, am I lying down? Everything looks strange. I guess you won't be able to sit on my shoulder if I'm lying down. Just give me a moment. I'll sit up, then you can come over here.

Why is someone trying to stop me from sitting, Ao? He's pushing me back down.

Ah, Ao, hello. Is my stomach comfortable? You don't normally sit there, but that's okay. Can I pet you? Yes? Yay!

Ao, your fur is so soft! Did you get a bath? No more mud and dirt on you anymore, huh? That's nice. Do you like being clean? Does it feel better?

Ao, it feels like you're all around me. That's what this feels like. Are they sheets? That could make sense. A blanket would be warm, and this is warm. I'm not used to something so soft, unless it's you, Ao.

What is the fire-lady doing? She's getting very close to me, and her hair is touching my face. It's weird. Why is her forehead on mine? Oh, she's leaving. The male is getting something wet. A cloth? Why's that on my head? I don't understand, Ao. Could you explain? Are they trying to make me feel better or something? I think the other Ao did that once, a couple months ago. You weren't there, Ao, so you wouldn't know what I'm talking about.

I don't know why he thinks I feel bad, though. It's very comfortable here. Very warm and soft. I just want to sleep, Ao. Will you stay here while I sleep? That would be nice. I don't want to be alone, even if this is a warm place and the fire-lady was here. I don't know where I am. It's scary to be alone, Ao. Did you know that? Probably. You've been alone before, just like me. Don't worry, Ao. I won't leave you alone.

The fire-lady's back, Ao. What is she saying? Can you hear? She's talking, but I don't understand. Is she talking to me, Ao? Or to the male? Ah, Ao, I don't know the male's name. Do you know? Do you have a nickname for him? Like I have for the fire-lady? It would be nice to have a name. Look, Ao, he has plants. Does that mean he's an herbalist? Is that what it's called, Ao? I think it's herbalist.

I've never met a herbalist. Ao told me about them, long ago. He said not to go to one when he got sick. I should have gone, Ao. It would have been better. But I just acted as his herbalist. I wonder if that was what killed him. I don't want to have killed him. But I guess it was the sickness, not me.

That's right, Ao! Am I sick? Am I going to die? But I have an herbalist with me, so I shouldn't die. I won't die, Ao. I won't leave you alone. I already said that, right? It's true, Ao. I won't leave you. It's too sad to be left alone.

Ao, I can hear what the fire-lady is saying! Could you tell her my name is Shin-Ah? That would be helpful. Wait, I guess you can't, huh. Most people can't hear you, right? That's fine. I'll tell her, Ao. You don't have to.

Ao, the fire-lady's smiling. That's nice. It's a warm smile. Like when you play with me. It's that warmth. I didn't know you could get warmth from an expression. The male isn't smiling, Ao. Do you think he isn't warm?

Oh, wait, he is smiling! It's just not as big, but it is warm. I feel warm when I see it, Ao. What is this? Do you know? You don't? That's alright. I'll find out at some point, Ao. It's alright. Everything's alright.

What is the male saying? Yun… is that his name?

It seems like it. He smiled again when I said it. Yun… interesting. So now I have a name for him. I wonder what the fire-lady's name is. It probably isn't fire-lady. Or fire. It would be funny if her name was fire, though! Don't you think, Ao?

Ao! Ao, look! There's another person in here, and he's really, really warm! Look, Ao! His hair is the sun! Ao, the sun is in this room! He's coming over here, Ao! Do you think he'll keep me warm? I want the sun to stay here forever, Ao.

Ao, there's a fire-lady, a sun, and a Yun over here. I like it here, Ao. Do you think I can stay here? I want to stay here. It's so warm. Ao, how old do you think the sun is? He doesn't look that old, Ao. I thought the sun would be older than the other Ao. What do you think? Do you think he's always looked like this? How old do you think he is? I don't get it. The sun is always here, and has always been here. Is he as old as the earth?

He's the sun. He must be. Not even fire can be that old. Fire-lady, I think he's older than you.

Why do you all look confused? Oh, did I say that out loud? Do you not think he's older than you? I do. Look at him, the sun has to be older than fire. Do you want me to explain? I don't want to explain, though. Ao, you can do it. You understand, right? Yeah. Go ahead and tell them, then. I'll just sleep. Good night, Ao. Good night, everyone.

Ah, I must have said that out loud again. Everyone smiled. And the sun grabbed my hand. Thank you, sun. You're very warm. I'll sleep now.

This place smells nice. There's a warm, thick smell. It's sweet, like when I go past some of the shops that other children visit. The sun says Yun is making food, but I don't remember foods having such a smell. Ao, have you had something like this? The sun says its good, but what do you think? Aren't sweet smelling things bad? The other Ao said sweet smelling things are used to kill bugs.

Ao, am I like a bug? Huh? You don't think so, sun? Okay, I trust you. I wonder if sweet smells are good at times. The sun seems to think so. I'll try them, I guess. I wonder what it is. Sun, what is pancake? I haven't heard of these. Ao, do you understand? Sun, why do you keep answering for Ao? I don't mind, but I would like to know. Does it taste good?

It does? That's nice. I would like to try some. Especially if you will come with me, sun, as well as you Ao. I could never go someplace without you, Ao. Don't worry. I promised, didn't I?

Huh? What is that, sun? I'm not used to such a thing. This is very thick. Is this why everyone is so warm? Interesting, isn't it, Ao. People seem to wear these. That's nice. They feel like the sheets I was laying in before. Everyone just has these with them? Weird.

Why does the sun want to place this on my legs? Isn't that uncomfortable? Yes, Ao, I see that the sun has these on his legs, but I would rather not. I don't know how someone could wear that. What about those long things females wear? Do you have something like that, sun? Yona does? I wonder who Yona is. I assume it is a female's name, if this cloth is her possession.

What is this? It looks different from the female's clothing. It looks more like the sun's and Yun's and the fire-lady's. But it is long. Just a shirt, but a long shirt? That's funny. Why would someone get something so big? It's like a sheet.

Oh, wait. I used to have something like this. Ah, Ao used to make me something similar out of a cloth! I see. So this was what he was making.

Look, Ao, it's me! This is a reflection, right? I've seen in rivers, and the other Ao said that was what I look like. Ao, it's you! No, Ao, that isn't a different squirrel. That's you. A reflection. Does the sun know what magic is used to make it on the wall? It is so much clearer than the river. Even more than a puddle!

Haha, thank you, sun! I'm ready to leave now, you know. I will try the thing with the dangerously sweet smell. You said you wished for me to meet two others? I will meet them, if you would like. Anything you want, sun.

Why do you ask why I call you sun? That is because you are the sun. Is this not your name? I am sorry, I had not know. You seem like the sun, you didn't know?

I see, your name is Zeno. I don't believe I will be able to remember this, so I will stick with calling you the sun. Is that alright? I'm glad. I don't think it would be possible to change it now.

Ao, the sweet smell is getting stronger! Is this really alright? I was sure sweet smelling stuff was dangerous. Well, I trust the sun, so I will. But I am a little scared. Ao, you shouldn't eat it until I'm sure. Is that okay? No? But Ao, what if you get sick? Alright, Ao, you can have some. It should be fine anyway. Yun is the one making the sweet stuff, right? I trust him, as well. It will be fine, Ao. Won't it?

Look at this, Ao! I haven't had something like this, have you? There are little holes in it, and it's squishy! A pancake, huh? This is interesting. What is that sticky stuff people are placing on their pancakes? Sun, will you tell me?

Syrup? Is that also sweet? It is? Interesting. I will stick with this, though. I don't want to have too much sweet.

Ao, is that person glaring at me? That's scary. I wonder why he's glaring. Does he not like me? Ao, please get him to stop. No, Ao, I don't want you to jump on him. What if he glares at you? That wouldn't be good. Please don't make him angry at you, Ao. Of course, I won't let him hurt you. Don't worry. But I would rather not harm him.

Ah! Ao! Now he's really glaring at me! What did I do, Ao? Do you know, sun? Why would he be mad at me? I don't understand! I don't want him mad!

But why would he listen to my conversation with Ao? That doesn't make sense, sun. You said I don't talk. Was I talking? I don't understand, sun. Why doesn't he like me? I haven't done something wrong, or have I?

Ah! He's coming over here! And there's another scary person following him! Well, this person is smiling, so he isn't as scary, but look at him. He can fight, so he's scary. But the other one is more scary, isn't he Ao. He can fight and he glares. I still don't want to hurt him.

Ao, he seems to think I can't harm him. I wonder why? Does he think he's good at fighting? That's good. It's good that he can defend himself. I hope he doesn't try to hurt me, though. I really don't want to harm him.

Ao, do you think he's a dragon? I think that's what Ao called people who were confident in themselves. Yeah, Ao, he's a dragon. That's good to know. So he's protective of people. It would be nice to become liked by this dragon. Do you think I can, sun? Ao seems to think so. And what about the other person? Is he the dragon's treasure?

Ah! Ao! He's angry! He's scaring me, Ao. He's coming closer, what should I do?

Oh no. Ao, I hit him. Why did I do that, Ao? I'm sorry, dragon, but I can't let you attack me. I'm really sorry, please don't hate me. Don't be mad, but I just couldn't let you hurt me. I didn't want to hurt you… I'm sorry.

Oh no! Now the treasure's angry, too! Oh, Ao, what should I do? The sun isn't helping me… he looks curious. Why would he be curious? I just don't want to hurt people. Shouldn't the sun stop the treasure from attacking me? I guess not. That isn't the sun's job. The sun's job is to make people warmer. Fighting makes people warmer, right?

I'm sorry, treasure. Please don't get up. I don't want to hurt you any more than this. Thank you, treasure. I won't harm you anymore. You both shouldn't be that hurt, just a little paralyzed. You'll be fine, don't worry. Everything will be okay in less than ten minutes.

Is it really okay if I just start eating, sun? I hurt them, so shouldn't I wait until they are okay again to eat? I will wait, it's okay. No, you don't need to wait with me! I don't want you to have to go hungry… Is it really alright? Well, fine, if you really want to I won't force you to eat. Ao, go ahead and eat. It wasn't your fault.

No, Ao, don't eat that much! You're small, so having three of these is too much! You'll have a stomach ache soon, Ao! Please, not a fourth! Good, thank you for stopping. You're stomach is already going to hurt, but at least it won't be that bad.

Sun, why are you laughing? Did I do something entertaining? No, keep laughing! I like it. It's warm. Comforting. I like your laugh, so please don't stop. I'm not upset by it. But what happened to make you laugh?

Is it fun to watch someone worry? Oh, it's because of what I did the brothers? Who are the brothers? Those two boys? Oh, so those were the people you had been talking about before! They're your roommates, right? And you wanted me to stay with you three, right? I'm sorry. I don't think they like me anymore.

But sun, why would this form respect? You're making no sense, sun. Fighting and hurting people make them mad. It makes me hated. Not respected.

Alright, I'll wait. I'll trust you, sun. But I'm still confused.

Okay, I guess I'll eat now. You don't have to keep telling me. Did the brothers eat? Yes? Oh, dragon, you're awake! Hello, and I'm sorry. Im being told to eat now, so i will talk more with you later. Are you able to move yet? That's okay. It hasn't been ten minutes. I'm surprised you're awake. Most people take longer than that to wake up.

Sun, these are really good! Thank you! I understand why Ao wanted to keep eating. Good thing i stopped him. He would get a stomach ache from so much. Oh, no, I couldn't have anything more sweet. This is still hard to handle. There's just so much! Save some for the others. There's lots of kids here, right? Ao and I shouldn't eat all of them. It's okay. Don't worry. I would like to go to sleep. Is that fine? Do I just go to the place from before? Will you take me? It would be helpful if you took me. I don't know the way. Come on, Ao, let's go. Do you know the way? Huh? Sun, why are you getting up? Oh, I guess you didn't hear. I'm going to sleep.

You'll take me? That's nice. Thank you, sun. I will see you two later, dragon, treasure. I'm sorry again. I didn't want to hurt you.

Ah, it's the soft thing! Thank you, sun. I'm sorry for harming your friends. But the food was very yummy, so thank you for that too. I hope they forgive me. Goodnight, Ao. Sun.


	4. Who We Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of the kids are wondering; just what is up with this Shin-Ah boy? Zeno becomes his translator, Hak figures himself out, and Jae-Ha accepts his loss.

"Oi, Zeno, what's up with that kid? Where'd you guys find him?" Hak asked after the blue-headed kid walked away. "He's weird."

"You just say that 'cause he was able to knock you out. Don't be such a jerk, Hak. 'Sides, it's time to eat! Yun make the pancakes today, so we don't have to try Yona's cooking!" Jae-Ha interrupted, causing the scowl on Hak's face to reduce.

"Haha, don't worry about it, Jae-Ha! Yona found him a couple days ago. He was passed out from fever the entire time he was here, and that squirrel was with him the entire time. I think the kid talks to him. At least, he does in his head. He's really quiet, though. Not many words come out his mouth, just like you saw. But I think he's a good kid. You'll like him! I'm already having him rooming with us, so you'll get to know him real well and everything!" Zeno was grinning as he spoke, his smile only intensifying when Hak's hand met his forehead with a loud 'thwap!'

"You're having him room with us? Him? What about all the other weirdos in this place? They weren't weird enough? You're so picky! No wonder we're your first roommates since you got here."

"What, you don't like him? I think he's interesting. You heard what he called you, right? Dragon. Doesn't that fit? I always knew you weren't human! And Jae-Ha's your treasure. At least, that's what I think he was getting at. It fits. You always protect him." Hak growled before shoving more pancakes into his mouth. Jae-Ha was taking his time pouring syrup onto the fluffy food.

"He doesn't seem like a bad guy. Just quiet. C'mon, Hak. It won't be that bad. We can even learn some of his moves. For a shrimp, that kid's good."

The three finished up breakfast before heading outside for a bit to play. Zeno decided to go back inside first, wanting to check on Shin-Ah. The kid was still sick. It wouldn't do well for him to get worse just because someone wasn't watching over him, and Yun wouldn't be able to do it until everyone was done with breakfast.

Yona really had no talent when it came to household duties. Not that Zeno was much better, but he doesn't try to kid himself.

It didn't stop either of them from trying to help out, or from breaking a plate or two.

"Hey, Shin-Ah! Sorry about breakfast. It probably wasn't a good idea to have you meet the brothers over there. But I do think Hak and Jae-Ha will like you! It might take a while with Hak, though. He just doesn't trust anyone. Took forever before he accepted staying near me. So don't worry." Shin-Ah just looked up with his blank expression. Even though his face was slack, his eyes sparkled in a way that spoke of hope.

"Yeah, so you just have to get better so we can all play together. It's no good if you stay sick for too long. I still have to introduce you to everyone else in the orphanage." Zeno paused. Shin-Ah had a confused glint in his eyes. Backtracking, Zeno continued to speak. "Oh, that's right, you didn't know we were in a orphanage. Do you know what an orphanage is? Okay, well, it's a place where children go and are taken care of by adults. The adults feed, clothe, and shelter the children while they grow until some other adults come around and adopt them or the children grow up and leave.

"Yona is in charge of this orphanage, and Yun helps her out. I've been here the longest, so anything you need I can help you with. Hak and Jae-Ha are still fairly new here, but it's been almost half a year since they came and both of them are fast learners. They're our roommates, so if you need help and I'm not here, just talk to them."

Shin-Ah's eyes sparked in what Zeno believed to be understanding, and so he moved on.

"Would you like anything else? Another blanket? It doesn't seem like your fever is very high anymore, so I don't think you need a cooling cloth. Is Ao in here?" The little squirrel jumped out from underneath the covers and bounded up Zeno's arm to rest on his hair.

"There you are! Well, Ao, would you mind making sure Shin-Ah is fine until I come back? I just need to you run to me if he gets any worse. And Shin-Ah, no standing up or moving around. What you need is rest." Shin-Ah hummed something that sounded like an 'alright, sun' before shutting his eyes and falling asleep. As his breathing evened out, Zeno quietly shut the door and went outside. He needed to watch some of the other young children that didn't yet know how to take care of themselves and the natural dangers of the earth. There were too many children who watched Jae-Ha climbing the trees and coming down perfectly fine. It had gotten to the point that almost all of the younger children would attempt the same thing.

When he got to the yard there were only two children in sight. Hak and Jae-Ha were both standing in defensive positions, eyes calculating the others actions in preparation for an attack.

It was no wonder there were no other children around. If the brothers were going to fight each other anyone within range was in danger of being used as an obstacle or platform to jump off. Zeno had been used as both multiple times, but he healed fast so it wasn't much of a problem.

Jae-Ha was the first to attack. Springing forward, he flew at Hak with his right leg outstretched for a kick. Hak shifted left, allowing Jae-Ha's leg to fly harmlessly pass his head. He then lifted his left hand and pushed Jae-Ha off trajectory and crash into the ground. Using Jae-Ha's stunned moment of pause, Hak sped towards his fallen body, hand mimicking a blade and aimed at the green-head's throat.

Before it could come into contact, Jae-Ha lept up and back, creating some distance between the two. Both brothers assessed the situation before rushing each other.

Meeting in the middle, there was a flurry of fists and feet. Each strike was successfully blocked and countered before it ended with Jae-Ha being knocked to the ground and yielding.

Before Zeno could say anything, Jae-Ha explained why they decided to spar this time.

"Zeno, we lost to that kid. There wasn't even time to actually fight, he just knocked us out. Does that mean we're weaker than him?" Jae-Ha didn't seem mad at the prospect of having less fighting ability than a child who seemed younger than even them, but he wasn't happy about it and more confused than anything. Hak was the angry one.

Zeno, with his great ability to read people, could tell Hak was angry at himself for not being able to defend Jae-Ha and himself from this new kid. He was even more mad that he couldn't even tell the kid was dangerous, something he always took pride in.

For around half of Hak's life he was fighting to make sure his brother stayed safe. He was forced to read people in moments and be able to correctly decipher between who was safe to be around, who wouldn't be able to kill Jae-Ha, and who was dangerous. To be deceived by a kid that was younger than him and, to top it off, seemed oblivious of everything was a hit to his pride.

To Zeno's extensive knowledge, neither brother planned to ask Shin-Ah to train with them and teach them what he had done. If this was a new fighting style that they'd never seen, it would be best if they either learned how to use it or how to defend from it. However, even if Zeno wanted to voice his thoughts, the brothers wouldn't listen to anyone outside of their little bubble for two when they were in this mood.

Except for Gi-Gan. Both had a deep respect for the old woman, even though Hak's was begrudgingly given.

There was hope that the two of them might befriend Shin-Ah as time went on, and maybe even have the possibility of asking him what exactly it was he did that knocked them out.

Zeno waited seven entire years before getting a roommate. He was willing to wait the amount of time it took for his roommates to become friends with each other. It couldn't take that long. All three of them were good people, if a little hard to understand at times.

It might work better if he talked to Yona, who was more of a big sister figure to Jae-Ha and Hak, and some sort of supreme being to Shin-Ah. She could talk some sense into them, probably.

Didn't mean he wouldn't try himself. Yona was already taking care of the entire orphanage and the problems of each kid that couldn't help themselves. This was hopefully small enough that it didn't have to be brought to her attention.

"Jae-Ha, are you mad at Shin-Ah for being able to knock you out?" Even though it was clear that wasn't the problem, it would help the kid to get past his pride by deciding what exactly was the problem about losing to Shin-Ah. Not that Jae-Ha was the one with the problem in the first place. That would be Hak, but asking Hak directly would just cause so many more problems it wasn't worth it.

"No. Why would you think that? I asked if we were weaker than him since we couldn't do anything to fight back."

"Well, I don't know if you're weaker or if he was able to knock you out purely due to surprise. Shouldn't you find that out yourself?" Hak was listening (even though he was pretending not to by looking in a different direction and turning his body away from Jae-Ha and Zeno) to every word Zeno spoke, indicated by the twitching his back muscles were doing every so often. Zeno had lived with the brothers long enough to know their tells.

That, and living your entire life in an orphanage gives someone the ability to read people extremely easily.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go talk to Yona! She wanted to know what Shin-Ah was like after he stayed conscious for more than a couple minutes." Zeno walked into the building with those parting words, letting the brothers decide for themselves what to do next.

"Zeno! Zeno!" One of the younger children called out. This child had lived a fairly calm life with the exception of his parents giving him up after they found there wasn't enough money to keep all of them alive. Most kids counted that as something better than straight up abandonment. He was still mentally stable, and it wasn't something he did that caused his parents to give him up for adoption. To make it even better, his parents would come in to visit on the holidays or when they had enough time and money to make the trip. They were hoping for an open adoption that would allow them to keep seeing their kid.

"Hey, brat. I can't play now, but later, okay?" The kid pouted but nodded his acceptance before running off the the small group of children in the other room.

"Ya know, it wouldn't kill ya to actually accept the other brats close to ya."

"Ik-Soo!" Zeno called out, running up to give the old man a hug. "What do you mean? I play with them and take care of them and all…"

"That's not what I mean and you know it." Zeno smiled before releasing the old man. "You should try and connect with them. Every other kid is attached to you, so why only those three? You stayed alone for seven entire years, just waiting for people who might not even come."

"But they did. Ik-Soo, it's fine. This was what was supposed to happen, and you know it as well." Zeno gave Ik-Soo a smile that spoke of mysterious knowledge just waiting for people to discover what it all meant. It was one of Zeno's less used smiles that spoke volumes of what he was truly like without all of the childish energy that surrounded his very being. It was the smile that made people think twice about his naivety. "Well, I need to go get Yona. Do you know where she is?"

Ik-Soo gave Zeno's change of subject no mind, instantly directing him to the bedrooms on the second floor and describing which room she was currently taking care of. Zeno ran off, dodging the children in his path as he made it way up the stairs. Yona was taking care of one of the sick children that Zeno was helping out before Shin-Ah arrived. After taking interest in Shin-Ah, Yona let Zeno switch duties from one sick kid to the new boy.

"Hey, Yona!" Zeno shout-whispered once he got into the room. The kid was sleeping, a cold sweat covering her skin. "Shin-Ah woke up, and we went to get breakfast. He's resting again, though. You might want to hear about what happened once you finish up here." Yona's face brightened up with the good news. With Shin-Ah awake they could start figuring out how to help him. While there weren't any bad injuries on him, there was still the possibility of neglect or some other aspect of being raised that caused mental problems for the poor kid. There were so many kids who now lived in the orphanage that came to Yona in a far worse state, and some who looked much better than Shin-Ah did but couldn't sleep at night for fear of what they would see behind their eyelids.

Yona switched out the wet towel on the girl's forehead before leaving the room, closing the door as quietly as she possibly could. Zeno's eyes were bright when Yona looked at him, and she automatically knew he had found the next person to join his family within the orphanage. He was like this for the first couple of weeks Hak and Jae-Ha had come to join them. He would talk about all of the adorable things his new little brothers would do and just continue to go over the same quirks he learned about. He'd excitedly spew about how one or both of them were opening up to him and letting him in.

Now it was Shin-Ah's turn, and Yona couldn't be happier. There was no way Zeno would let Shin-Ah become lonely.

"So, it doesn't seem like he's hurt from anything his parents did. Someone must have taught him how to fight, since he knew the pressure points to hit when Hak challenged him! That was so cool, the way he was able to take Hak and Jae-Ha down without actually hurting them! But now Hak is upset with himself and might try to get revenge on Shin-Ah, and I don't think Jae-Ha's going to try and stop him but I just don't know. Anyway, I really think they'll be able to get along if Hak just calms down and asks Shin-Ah to show him what he did! I don't even think Shin-Ah knew what he was doing and it was all just instinctual! He moved so fast, faster than Hak! Well, not Hak when he's fully warmed up and fighting someone stronger than him, but other than that. Like, when he's motivated but not challenged. Remember when I told you the difference? Like, he's motivated fighting against Jae-Ha, but not challenged because they're at the same skill level.

"Oh, and Jae-Ha actually seems curious about Shin-Ah, so they'll probably become faster friends than Shin-Ah and Hak will. But they will be friends, I can guarantee it! Besides, we're all going to be sleeping in the same room so it's not like they'll be able to get out of it! Yona, this is going to be so fun! I wonder if he likes cats? I should introduce him to Hakuryuu the next time he wakes up! I mean, he likes his squirrel, right? Oh, the squirrel is named Ao if you didn't know. I can't remember if he said that outloud or not while you were there. He kept saying Ao's name when he was sleeping, and a couple of times after he woke up.

"I sort of think that there were two Aos', though. He said something strange to the squirrel about how it wasn't this Ao but a different Ao that said something. It was while he was asleep. Oh, that reminds me! He might be a little bit crazy, since there's a lot going on in his head and he doesn't always know when he's actually talking. He might not be used to talking to anyone accept the squirrel Ao and so talks to Ao inside of his head, but I don't really know."

"Then how are you able to understand him?" Yona asked out of complete curiosity. She had only seen the boy awake a couple of times and had completely thought his way of communication was due to fever and other illness. The way Zeno was describing it sounded like it was Shin-Ah's normal way of speaking, which begged the question of how to interpret his minimal vocal indications.

"His eyes. He's really expressive! Everything is in his eyes, even though his face muscles don't move much. You just need to watch." Zeno smiled softly at the mental image of Shin-Ah's expressions. "Just trust me. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about everything! I'm gonna head back over to our room. I can't remember if I told Hak and Jae-Ah that Shin-Ah was our roommate… I probably did! Well, we'll see."

"Bye, Zeno! Don't cause too much trouble!" Yona shouted down the hall before covering her mouth and shooting a glance to the room containing the sick and sleeping child. Zeno grinned at her air-headedness. She was worse than he was!

Entering his room, Zeno saw Shin-Ah was sleeping peacefully, just the same as when he left. "Good job, Ao! You can sleep now, too. I'll keep watch for a while longer. You don't need to worry about him anymore." The squirrel squeaked his acceptance before curling up beside Shin-Ah's head in the crook of his neck. Zeno hoped Shin-Ah didn't move when he slept. It really wouldn't be good to squish the poor little creature.

Zeno grabbed a blanket and pillow off of his bed and placed them on the floor, against the wall facing Shin-Ah's bed. He leaned against the wall and began to drift off to sleep, separately exhausted from staying up most of the past nights to watch over Shin-Ah and a couple of other sick children. Shin-Ah mumbled in his sleep and Zeno smiled. His new, adorable little brother was now home.


	5. Bored Luxury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kija is bored of living a fancy life with all of his comphert. He wants adventure. He wants people who he truly belongs with.

"I can't do this anymore. We don't have time to take care of THREE kids! Two would be hard enough, even with Kija grown up. Just, twins! How can we handle them on their own, and watch Kija also." The woman was frantic, her huge stomach pressing up against her hand as she held her unborn children close.

"Darling, we can't just give him away. What would the neighbors think? We can't be the irresponsible people on the street that adopted a kid just to give him away!" Her husband tried to reason with the pregnant woman, doing his best to calm her down with little gestures.

"But both of us work! How will we find any time for Kija? I don't want him to feel left out like other adopted children. I know we haven't acted very much like parents to him, but I still want the best for him. He's still a child. Maybe if he goes to an orphanage he'll find a better family."The woman was close to tears now, regretting how little attention she had been able to give her adopted son.

"Honey, you're being unreasonable. Just think about it for a while longer. Maybe he'll be great with the newborns! Please, darling."

"It's fine." A young voice broke into the conversation. Both adults turned their attention to the staircase where their white haired, pale adopted son stood. "I already know of a good orphanage. There's a lot of kids who like it there, and I don't mind. There might be other kids there who I could hang out with." With this, both adults broke into tears. Kija always acted so independently, even when he was younger and they first took him in. He never became attached to anyone, only opening to his father's mother. Even that was minimal. He was a friendly child, since he had no problems talking and socializing with his peers or even adults he had never met before, but he never seemed fully there.

"But Kija, what if you end up in a worse home?" The husband asked.

"I told you, the kids that live in the orphanage and even the ones that have left it all said it was a great place. The website said everyone who was planning to adopt had to have a background check and the owner would personally check up on the kids after the adoption. It's run by four people, but some of the older kids help out." The woman gripped onto her stomach and her lip quivered.

"What orphanage?" She asked, turning and looking around for a computer or something she could use to access the internet.

"The Shining Dawn." He replied. "It was created and currently run by a girl named Yona with the help of a priest, and two of her friends. It's been around for 15 years, and all of the kids gets allowances. Yona's father is Il, the billionaire that's always on TV. The orphanage is always good on funds since she's his only child and he seems to follow whatever she wants."

"It does sound like a good place, Kija, but are you sure you would rather go there than stay here? You can have a great life here! You could take care of the twins when we're out, and we can get you anything you want!"

"I know, but it's so boring just staying here all the time. I need something different, and I think this is it." Kija held a small smile on his face and his eyes were glowing with the knowledge of something better. The husband pursed his lips before giving one short nod of acceptance.

"I'll go check out this place. Kija, would you like to come with me? Just to make sure you truly like it there. Darling, we should be back before dinner. Would you like me to pick up something for everyone to eat?" The female mentioned chinese food before turning down the idea and deciding on cooked fish, whatever type the husband thought would be best.

Kija grabbed his jacket and climbed into the car waiting in their garage. It pulled out onto the street before heading out of their neighborhood, past the shining gates and large, beautiful houses with their perfectly maintained gardens. Kija stared out of the car window, watching the clouds float lazily across the sky and the birds chirping their songs, paying no mind to what was on the ground around him. None of the man-made luxuries were interesting enough to hold his attention.

They pulled into a less well-off neighborhood, though it was by no means poor. The houses were closer together, their gardens were filled with small creatures scurrying about and nibbling at the plant leaves with flowering weeds growing up within the grasses. There was a large building that looked partially like a house, with a playground in the backyard and welcoming front doors. On the lawn outside was a sign in red and orange colors with the words Shining Dawn scrawled across it. There were only a couple of children playing in the yard from what Kija could see, but the place looked friendly enough. One kid was spinning around while younger children held onto his arms and looked to be laughing.

The husband parked across the road and got out of the car with Kija following suit. The two walked side by side up to the front of the orphanage, ready to knock on the door when the older kid that formerly had children hanging off of his arms - there were still a couple hanging onto his waist and legs, but it was less than before - walked up to them with a large smile.

"Hi! I'm Zeno, one of the oldest kids here. Yona is actually out right now if you had been wanting to talk with her, but I can help! Here, let me show you around inside." Zeno opened up the door and moved aside to let the man and Kija inside. "What are you here for?" He asked, no judgment in his eyes. The man started to fidget just the smallest amount, but Zeno either didn't notice or ignored it. Kija was the first to speak, seeing as the man had no plans to break the perfect life he had been living by admitting to not being able to take care of his adopted kid.

"We were actually wondering if you could take me in. My current adopted parents are about to have twins of their own and don't believe they will be able to properly take care of me. I saw this was a good place and decided to check it out in person." Kija stated in what many people would think of as an overly blunt manor. The man cringed at Kija's words, but Zeno kept smiling.

"I see! In that case I should show you around the facilities. We have our dining hall over here. Most of the time there's twenty kids eating in here at once, since most will come in at different times to eat. We don't have a schedule for when people can eat, and most of our kids know how to cook by the time they're twelve and can then help out the younger children by making sure they're fed when it isn't one of the main eating times. Other than that Yun will cook at meal times. He's the best cook in the orphanage, and is one of the founding members." Zeno went around introducing a couple of the eating kids and explaining their process with allergies and religious affiliations.

After the dining room he moved to the younger kids' play rooms, the older kids' play rooms, a couple of the bathrooms, bedrooms and how people are decided with who becomes who's roommate, and giving a general history of the place and the jobs some of the elder kids do to help out around the orphanage. There were only five people who could come in and work in the orphanage; the founders Yona and Yun, the adopted father of Yun and a priest named Ik-Soo, and two of Yona's friends named Lili and Soo-Won.

The man still seemed reluctant to let Kija go and insisted they had to talk with his mother before deciding anything, but Kija gave Zeno a small nod of acknowledgement that all but guaranteed Kija's future in this orphanage.

On their way home, Kija continued to think about the golden haired boy. For a kid so old, he seemed younger and more playful than anyone else Kija had met before. It was interesting to say the least. The orphanage was quite an attractive place and all it would take was convincing his pregnant parent to let him live there.

He just hoped it would be more interesting than his current life.

The woman was in the kitchen preparing a meal entirely on her own, none of their normal cooks present within the room. Kija fought back a cringe at the memory of her last time cooking, a perfectly burnt chicken saute with a side of undercooked steamed lime rice and salty grilled veggies. He quickly excused himself to his room in order to grab a quick snack before suffering through the woman's form of cooking.

He opened up the lavious wardrobe in his room, digging through the bottom to find his snacks and climbing onto his queen sized bed to eat. With smooth, practiced motions he whisked his laptop off the bedside table and opened up his netflix account. He sat and mindlessly watched some of the new superhero show while he munched on chocolate bites and sat under his fluffy blankets.

He was called down for dinner using the speaker system that was installed when the house was first being built less than an hour later, and he paused the video before jumping up and leaving the room, bed still covered in wrappers.

Dinner started off like they normally do with nearly silent small talk and attempts from the husband to start a conversation with Kija. The subject of the orphanage seemed to be avoided by both adults and it took until Kija had finished his meal before he finally brought up the subject. He was tired of waiting for these skittish adults to finally breach the topic.

"It's a nice place. I really won't mind going there after I leave. I mean, the people are nice enough, and there's good food." He waited for either adult to talk, not feeling any anxiety or nervousness. All there was for them to do was make a decision, but they were taking so darn long when it shouldn't need much deliberation. They don't have time, so therefore Kija should leave.

"Yes, it was, but I don't believe it would be good for you to live in a place with so many children and only a couple of adults."

"I would go to boarding school in a couple of years, anyway. What's the problem?" The adults looked at each other. The female still looked conflicted, same as she always did when talking about giving away their adopted son. The husband just looked at his anxious wife, waiting for her to take the lead and ready to attempt to convince her otherwise if need be. Kija held in a sigh, seeing as they weren't getting anywhere he would have to interrupt their thoughts and try again to redirect their thoughts to why this is a good idea, not about how little time they spend with him.

"I want to go there. I'm bored living here. Everything is too easy, and I get everything without needing a reason. The house is giant and the people in this neighborhood aren't any fun to play with. That one kid, Zeno, he seemed fun and down to earth. Some of the kids were actually fighting instead of being afraid to get dirty. I'd rather live there than in such a repetitive place." Kija attempted to gauge the reactions of both adults, but found it was too difficult to even attempt. Instead he left the dining room to let them discuss what to do without whatever small amount of grief his presence would bring.

Kija didn't bother to think about how - when creating the pretty words in his mind on why it would be better for him to live there and how much he could love it - there might have been a small amount of truth in his short speech.

It took a week. As it would turn out, if someone actually had adopted a kid they can't just go to an orphanage and hand the kid over. There was paperwork to go though, and seeing as the parents weren't exactly enthusiastic to work through all of the papers and get rid of Kija on top of their normal work for their job, Kija was the one who read through the information. He was a smart kid, extremely smart in fact. Any of the important information was written down and given to the adults before he went and forged the signature of his adopted parents where they were supposed to sign. After showing the information to the adults he sent the documents in and got them processed. They received a phone call saying Kija was now able to go stay at the orphanage, which at first confused the adults until Kija went through the process of explaining what he had done and they reluctantly drove him to the orphanage and dropped him off at the front. The female let him leave the car only after giving him a kiss on the forehead, but neither of them left the car to walk him to the door.

It was some guy with light brown hair that opened the door. He was a bit messy and looked to have been scrambling around after children. He probably had been, in fact, and Kija assumed this was the man named Yun. He held out a pale hand in greeting before introducing himself in the proper way he was taught.

"Hello, I'm Kija. I was just cleared to live here until I am adopted again." Yun blinked owlishly at the young boy who was far too mature for his age, especially taking into account what he was saying.

"Um, hi, I'm Yun. It's nice to meet you, Kija! Please, come in. I heard you met with Zeno last time you came, right? Would you him to be the one to show you to your room, or would you like me to take you?" Kija shrugged, uninterested in what Yun was saying. While he seemed to be nice for an adult, it didn't mean he would be so likable later on.

Kija wanted to hide when Yun scolded a couple of the kids for attempting to sneak into the kitchen to grab freshly baked cookies before they had their lunch. The group of kids took the scolding with their heads down and eyes looking at their feet, and every other kid around was laughing light heartedly. One kid with green hair shouted 'you guys had better listen to mom! Next time he won't give you desert!'

The kid was speaking from experience judging by the sly grin and the face-palm of everyone else around him.

"Jae-Ha, don't make me go get Yona." The green-haired kid, Jae-Ha, automatically closed his mouth, but the grin stayed on his face. Yun sighed tiredly and the scary aura that had been surrounding him during the scolding disappeared. "Jae-Ha, would you show Kija to his room? It's the one you have been in since you got here. I hope that won't be a problem…" Yun leveled Jae-Ha with a glare that Kija never expected the motherly-boy to be able to make. That said, it didn't seem to affect the green haired boy very much seeing as he just smirked it off. Either he was used to being glared at by Yun or someone with a much harder stare was always angry with him.

"Of course, mom! Anything for you." The boy grabbed Kija by the arm and ducked out of the room before Yun's verbal assault could get started. He laughed as they all but sprinted to the room.

"Well," Jae-Ha started. " I guess I should introduce myself. I'm sure you heard from Mom's screaming, but my name is Jae-Ha and I'll be one of your roommates. The others are Zeno - you probably met him before - my older brother Hak, and this quiet guy names Shin-Ah. Don't worry that he never talks, he's like that to everyone. If you get to know him he's actually pretty expressive. It's kinda cute, and he's fun to bully. Oh, and he has a pet squirrel names Ao, so watch out for him. Not that he's violent or anything, but the little thing's really pampered by everyone and has been here as long as Shin-Ah has, so if you do anything mean to it everyone in the orphanage will be after you. Just fair warning." The guy kept smirking even when he talked about Kija's possible demise.

Kija swore to himself to be extra nice to that little squirrel. Who knew what it meant to treat it badly. What if not petting it when it wanted to be pet meant someone would beat him up this could be a dangerous place. Not that that would be a bad things. It would just mean there'd be something entertaining for him to do.

When they got into the room, Kija only saw four beds. If what Jae-Ha said was true, that would mean there'd be five people staying in the same room. Would one of them sleep on the floor? Kija hoped it wouldn't be him. Thankfully Jae0Ha must have known Kija would be confused so he proceeded to explain.

"Hak and I sleep in the same bed. Always have, always will. So you get the top bunk over on the right. Shin-Ah's the one who sleeps below you. You'll probably meet him when we go outside, but for now just set down your stuff. We can get it all organized when everyone's in the room." Kija put everything he had - some clothes, a video game, snacks - onto his bed and followed Jae-Ha out of the room once again. He didn't comment on the messy state of the room just yet, waiting until people got used to him first. It wouldn't do to become a target just yet, and Jae-Ha already mentioned he enjoyed bullying one of his roommates.

They walked past a dozen or so doors to a different set of stairs than the one he had climbed before. This is how we normally get down to the back yard. It avoids the kitchen completely, so there's less chance to run into Mom and have him start yelling at us again. By us I mean Hak, Zeno and I. Shin-Ah never does anything to get mom mad at him, but he's a goody goody. And thinks that Mom is perfection incarnated. He has a bit of a weird way of looking at things, so don't be freaked out if he gives you a weird nickname to start with. Yeah, he'll know your name, but he won't use it that much. Anyway, the others should all be in the backyard practicing. If ya want we can train you up, too. Seems like you aren't used to street life or anything." Jae-Ha smiled kindly and Kija forgot for a moment that this guy could be a bully, and answered the smile with one of his own.

It would be good to learn how to fight if people in this orphanage knew some good moves. At the very least he'd be able to defend himself a little when someone picks a fight with him. Putting up some sort of chance is better than having none at all.

Kija re-evaluated that train of thought when he saw the sort of training Jae-Ha was talking about. It looked like the two kids were flying, even though they were only 14 years old, tops. Both looked to have different fighting styles, but were able to keep up with the other person without fail. Jae-Ha noticed Kija's awed look and explained.

"Hak and I have been learning to fight since we were four, and even when we left the streets and came to the orphanage we kept on learning. No one knows how long Shin-Ah's been training since he doesn't talk much, but when he was four-ish he was able to knock out both Hak and I without much effort. Both of us were around 7 when that happened. Hak hated Shin-Ah for a while after that, but he got over it and started to learn from Shin-Ah.

"If you're wanting to learn something with brute strength ask Hak to teach ya a bit. Shin-Ah's a little more elegant in his fighting but just as powerful. I have a mixture of the two styles since I was always a little more open to Shin-Ah's teachings." Kija watched as the two kids spun through their attacks, Hak working to get close for a punch while Shin-Ah fluidly moved past the offending fist and swung his leg upwards to hit Hak's face.

It didn't connect, but it pushed Hak back a tad before Hak moved in once more for a hit.

The clapping on the sidelines drew Kija's attention and he saw Zeno watching the fighting with sheer enjoyment.

"Is he able to fight?" Jae-Ha adopted a thoughtful look before shrugging.

"No clue. I haven't seen him actually fight before, but he's able to break up any fight that starts without getting himself hurt, even if it's between Hak, Shin-Ah and myself. So I assume he knows what he's doing and must be strong."

"That's… pretty scary. I thought he was just a normal guy." Zeno waved at them, reminding Kija of a four year old with his exaggerated motions that made it seem his body was going to be knocked over with the force of his momentum. He had to re-evaluate just who he thought this yellow haired, happy-go-lucky guy actually was.

Since when had this orphanage became such a dangerous place? At least four people were fantastic fighters, and one of the four was a bully, plus he had to be careful of the squirrel that was currently resting on Zeno's head.

Kija thought he might pass out from the information overload. And the stress of his situation. Sure, he was looking for something interesting and a exciting, but this wasn't what he expected. A few fights, sure, but Kija thought he'd at least be able to handle himself. Maybe it would be best to go to someone for training. Brute or elegance. Well, he came here after being tired of living a life among beautiful, expensive things. Elegant things. It might be time to learn from a brute.

After the brute was done fighting, of course. Kija didn't want to die just for drawing the guy's attention.

Zeno approached the two with a happy, sunny aura surrounding him. Kija tried to remind himself that this guy might actually be dangerous, but it was a little bit difficult when the guy just exuded the innocence of a toddler.

"Hey, Jae-Ha! Kija, right? Nice to see you again! You're staying in our room, right?" Zeno waited long enough for a nod of confirmation before he continued. "Great! Well, we should probably go grab some food soon. It should be about time for Yun to start cooking, and I told him I'd help out a bit. He was shouting earlier, right? What was going on?" The squirrel on Zeno's head squeaked and it's cuteness had Kija's hand reaching up without permission. The fluff-ball jumped onto Kija's hand before running down his arm and onto his shoulder. The sudden movement had him jumping a little, but not enough to throw the creature off. The two looked at each other and blinked before Ao made himself comfortable and Kija accepted that he wouldn't get rid of the little thing from his shoulder.

"Hey, Kija, you wanna just go grab some food now? You must be tired from moving! The others can catch up later if they want." Zeno exclaimed. He all but dragged Kija away from the fight, the squirrel still holding tight to Kija's clothing.

They ate with silence on Kija's part, and Zeno continuously talking about how the other four were such great people and Kija will really like to know them, and how Yun's cooking was delicious as always, and how Kija should be really excited when he meets Yona because 'the young miss is such a sweetheart' and everything else he could think of to talk about. Kija really couldn't keep up with the rapidly changing topics, not that he particularly wanted to. Just as Zeno said, he was tired. It wasn't that mentally exhausting of a day, but he had to sort through everything in his room and pack away the things he actually cared about enough to take with him.

There wasn't much. Some favorite shirts and his gaming console with a few games to go with it. But he still had to sort through everything, and there had been a lot of junk in there.

Kija tuned out, going through the motions until he and Zeno arrived in the room. Then he crawled under the covers and curled up. Kija was pretty sure he heard Zeno laugh or giggle, but he was too out of it to care.

Kija woke up once when someone entered the room. Just one person, it would seem. He peaked a head out to see who it was, and blue hair entered his vision. The guy, Shin-Ah, was leaning over his formerly sleeping form. Kija automatically jumped out of bed, freaked out by the quiet kid getting all in his face like that. Their heads knocked and Kija automatically fell clumsily back onto his bed. Shin-Ah moaned in pain, but was back up with the only evidence of injury was his hand resting on his forehead.

"Why'd you do that? Gah, that hurt!" Kija bit out, still in pain. Shin-Ah just blinked like he didn't know what to do. Probably didn't, seeing as everyone he interacted with were all able to fight without a problem, and this probably didn't hurt them nearly as much as it did Kija.

"I apologize." He said slowly, eyes never blinking. There was still enough light left from the sun shining into their room for Kija to see Shin-Ah's facial features, from the shining blue eyes to what must be orange tattoos under them. His face was blank but there was a possibility his lips held the smallest of smiles.

"Ugh, whatever. I'm Kija. You're Shin-Ah, right?" The strange boy blinked, which Kija took as confirmation. "Great. Well, I'm trying to sleep right now, so if you'd be kind enough to move away, that'd be great." The guy jumped up a little bit before hiding his face and diving under the covers of his own bed which, seeing as it was the top bunk, must have been fairly difficult. Kija blinked. He could have sworn the guy was blushing before he retreated.

This would be an interesting life he'd lead, that was for sure.


End file.
